Walking Doberman In The Snow

[JazzTheDobie]

I live in Canada, and we're currently experiencing winter for the first time with our 7-month old Dobie, Jazz.
We live near a forest that rarely sees other humans than myself, and Jazz walking through. It's a bit of a hike, and we walk for 30mins, in subzero temperature (sometimes down to -4 F). No coat, no boots for her. She is off leash and recall is nearly perfect, she doesn't get out of sight. She runs non-stop and I don't see any signs that she's bothered by the cold.

Is this normal? Are there guidelines for walking Dobermans in the cold?

 

[Cindy Jensen]

I have a three mos old dobie girl and live in WI. She would not go outside until I put a lined coat on her and now she loves to go out. BUT, there is a frost bite advisory at times and I make sure any of my dogs are not out more than 30 minutes or less. My pointer loves the snow but she is at her paws if she is out too long when she comes in. Dobes and Pointers have no undercoat so they have little protection from the cold. I have to monitor the situation as sometimes their enthusiasm for being outside overrides common sense. So I just feel that shorter visits outside are better for them. Also the snow melts and then freezes which is hard on their paws. I just feel better erring on caution. I am new to this site so any other info anyone can add would be appreciated. Adore my "India Ink" girl.

 

[JazzTheDobie]

I have a three mos old dobie girl and live in WI. She would not go outside until I put a lined coat on her and now she loves to go out. BUT, there is a frost bite advisory at times and I make sure any of my dogs are not out more than 30 minutes or less. My pointer loves the snow but she is at her paws if she is out too long when she comes in. Dobes and Pointers have no undercoat so they have little protection from the cold. I have to monitor the situation as sometimes their enthusiasm for being outside overrides common sense. So I just feel that shorter visits outside are better for them. Also the snow melts and then freezes which is hard on their paws. I just feel better erring on caution. I am new to this site so any other info anyone can add would be appreciated. Adore my "India Ink" girl.

Good point about showing enthusiasm and hiding the effects of the cold.. definitely something for me to consider. I wonder if she's built up some tolerance to the cold. We walk 30mins twice daily since she moved in with us at 12 weeks. Only missed a handful of time due to really bad weather conditions.

 

[JanS]

Welcome to both of you from northern Minnesota! We limit our dogs time outside when it's well below 0 but if they're active and running around they do stay warmer. In our case it's their feet that get cold first so we have several pairs of fleece boots to put on if it's well below 0. As an example, it was -28° F this morning but Phoebe knows to get out and back in quickly so she didn't have her boots on.

 

[Oh Little Oji]

Good points already. I've found that Dobes do quite well in the cold as long as they're being active. I have never used booties or a coat to protect against cold, and I've walked my Dobe in temps a bit below zero; but this is like a 20 - 25 minute walk and we know we are just going straight home where we can get warm.

I've also done plenty of retrieving / fetching with them in snow. Now, that's where I've used booties in order to help avoid bloody pads. There's an old technique of putting baby diaper cream up in their paw pads to help keep snow from balling up in there. In years past, living in Minnesota, I have picked some up from the dollar store and used it. It's funny that now that we have had two children, we have never bought or used any diaper cream. It's just not been something we've used.

But yes, I suppose were it significantly below zero and my Dobe were going to be outside for more than maybe 10 minutes, I might have to think about booties to protect against the flesh freezing.

 

[Cindy Jensen]

Never heard about the diaper cream but if it works? When the temps were lower a few years ago we had a dobie that was out most of the afternoon with my son and his friends, who were sledding down our hill out back. Never bothered her as she went up and down the hill. I agree that being active certainly keeps them warmer than if they are supposed to just being out to go to the bathroom on a very cold day. We've been seeing a lot of warnings recently about frost bite and reminders to keep our animals inside so I watch them carefully. Recently saying frostbite possible within 15 minutes! Can't wait for spring! Hope it's better now in Minnesota and Canada!